USS Avenger (MCM-1)

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The Avenger in April 2011
The Avenger in April 2011
Overview
Order June 29, 1982
Keel laying June 3, 1983
Launch June 15, 1985
1. Period of service flag
Commissioning September 12, 1987
Decommissioning September 30, 2014
Whereabouts Wrecked in 2014
Technical specifications
displacement

1367 tons

length

68 meters

width

12 meters

Draft

4 meters

crew

6 officers, 75 sailors

drive

4 Waukesha Motor Company diesel generators, adjustable propellers, 2 rudders, 2 electric motors

speed

14 knots

Armament

2 M2HB 12.7 mm machine guns , 2 M60 7.62 mm machine guns, 2 × 40 mm Mk 19 machine grenade launchers

The USS Avenger (MCM-1) was a minesweeper of the United States Navy and a lead ship of the 14-unit Avenger-class that entered service in September 1987 . The Avenger gained fame primarily through its use in the Second Gulf War . The ship remained in active service until September 2014 and was scrapped in the same year.

history

The Avenger was commissioned on June 29, 1982 as the type ship of the Avenger class and laid on June 3, 1983 in the shipyard of Peterson Shipbuilders in Sturgeon Bay . The launch took place on June 15, 1985. On September 12, 1987, the ship could be put into service. Home port was the Charleston Navy Yard

Extensive tests were carried out immediately after the Avenger was commissioned . This included a shock test in which a bomb was detonated in the immediate vicinity of the ship. This should test the stability and resilience of the hull made of wood and fiberglass-reinforced plastic , which was only slightly damaged.

As part of the United States Fleet Forces Command , the Avenger was relocated to the Persian Gulf after the outbreak of the Second Gulf War in 1990 , where it participated in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. The ship was the longest in service unit of the coalition forces during the war. It received the Navy Unit Commendation for its service and the crew was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon.

In 1993 the Avenger moved its home port to Naval Station Ingleside in the state of Texas . In the following years she was involved in several missions, including 1993 and 1995 in the Eastern Atlantic, 1997 and 1999 in the Mediterranean and 2001 in the Eastern Pacific. In 2004 the ship took part in the multinational military maneuver RIMPAC .

In 2008 the Avenger received a major modernization. She was then stationed in San Diego from 2009 , before moving her home port one last time to Sasebo in Japan in December of the same year . On September 30, 2014, the ship was retired after 27 years of service and sold to the Marine Group Boat Works in San Diego for scrapping in November of the same year.

Web links

Commons : USS Avenger  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files